1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transport system for tire demounting and mounting service operations, which is installed in a working area where tire demounting and mounting services,, including tire replacement, repair, inflation, and rotation of tires of a vehicle, are performed with operating machines, so as to transport the tire between the operating machines and the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
When the operation of removing and fitting a tire is performed for repairing a punctured tire of a vehicle, particularly a truck or a bus (hereinafter generally referred to as a large vehicle), for changing the tire with a new one, or for effecting the rotation of tires, a pneumatic impact wrench, which is stored in advance at a predetermined position, is carried to a tire fitting position of the large vehicle with the large vehicle jacked up. Since the impact wrench is heavy, the impact wrench is sometimes carried in a state in which it is suspended from a crawler-type impact-wrench suspending machine.
By using this impact wrench, the operator consecutively loosens a plurality of (usually 8 to 10) wheel nuts so as to set the tire in a removable state. Then, the operator removes the tire from the large vehicle while holding it in the operator's hands, and manually rolls the tire to move the tire to a place where a tire changer and an inflator are located. Then, the tire is filled with a predetermined amount of air by the inflator.
When these operations using the operating machines are finished, the tire is manually rolled so as to be transported to the tire fitting position of the large vehicle, and the tire is fitted. After the tire is fitted, the plurality of nuts are consecutively tightened again, and the tire demounting and mounting operation is thereby completed.
However, the above-described conventional operations involved much labor by the operator. In addition, when the tire is fitted, the bolts (inner nuts in the case of a double tire) must be positioned such that they can be inserted into wheel tightening holes, so that an experts' perception and knack are required. Furthermore, since the tire is often held in the operator's arms, the working clothes can be stained or damaged.
In particular, since tires of large vehicles weigh 100 kg or more per unit, and the number of tires to be fitted is large, the operating efficiency in demounting and mounting of the tires has been very poor.
In addition, since pneumatic impact wrenches are used in the conventional operation, the noise is large, and since air pipes are required, the working space becomes limited in space.